


Disconnection Discovered

by watcherofworlds



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Family Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 10:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18150815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: Three weeks after William moves in with his grandparents, he discovers a folder full of voicemails from his father on his phone, all of which had been deleted by his grandfather before he could hear them. As a result, a confrontation between them ensues at dinner that night.





	Disconnection Discovered

**Author's Note:**

> William's grandparents feature pretty prominently in this fic, and I would have included them in the character list, except apparently they aren't taggable characters yet. Oops.

“Phone,” William’s grandfather demanded, holding out his hand. William sighed, but handed it over. This had become routine in the three weeks since he’d moved in with his grandparents- every day when he came home from school, his grandfather asked to see his phone. William didn’t know what he was looking for on it, but he told himself it was just something he did to make sure he was safe. After all, that was why he’d moved here, right?

After a few minutes, William’s grandfather handed him back his phone and sent him on his way. He went to his room and sat down at his desk, pulling his school books and notebooks out of his backpack. His fingers hovered over the bright yellow and white Flash symbols printed on his backpack’s scarlet fabric. They seemed so much more significant now that he was back in the Flash’s home turf.

As he was about to start his homework, something, some suspicion or half baked notion, tugged at his mind. Glancing at his phone, he unlocked it and stared for a moment at its still, silent screen. He thought about texting Zoe, but something made him decide against it. Keeping eye out for his grandparents, who were expecting him to be doing his homework right now, he started tapping idly from app to app, waiting for that half formed thought to resolve itself into something more concrete.

Eventually, he found himself looking at his voice mailbox, where he saw a folder labeled “Deleted messages”. Curious, he tapped on it. When it opened, he nearly choked. It contained message after message from his dad, so many that he had to scroll to see them all. All this time, his grandparents had told him that they hadn’t heard from either his dad or Felicity, that neither of them had made any attempt to get in touch with him after he’d moved. And now here was evidence that they’d been lying to him for, according to the date stamps on the messages, the entire three weeks he’d been living with them so far. William wasn’t sure if he felt angry or sad, but whichever one it was, he was feeling it  _ very  _ strongly. Blinking back tears, he fished his headphones out of his backpack and settled in to listen to the messages. He soon lost track of exactly how many there were, but their content was all generally much the same- his dad expressing a desire to talk to him and to see how he was doing. In one of them he mentioned having tried to call the house, which meant that William’s grandparents had deleted his  messages off the answering machine as well.

William wasn’t definitely angry now. It wasn’t fair of his grandparents to decide whether or not he and his dad got to talk to each other without even asking him or bothering to get his thoughts on the matter. Not only had they not talked to him, but they’d  _ lied _ to him about it. For weeks. Maybe he  _ wanted _ to be able to hear from his dad while they were living 600 miles apart- he did, in fact- but his grandparents wouldn’t know because they hadn’t bothered to find out. William knew he was still a child, but he thought he deserved at least some kind of say in decisions that affected his life. He wanted to confront his grandparents right then and there, but he forced himself not to. At the moment, he had homework to do, and besides, it just wasn't’ the right time. An opportunity would present itself. Of that much he was certain.

The opportunity William was looking for came at dinner that night, during a lull in the conversation following his grandparents asking him how his day at school had been.

“So,” he said, speaking up. “Have you heard from my dad at all?” William’s grandparents exchanged a look. For a moment, before he spoke, his grandfather had the expression of one caught in a lie.

“No,” he said. “Not yet.

“That’s funny,” William replied, bitterness creeping into his voice. “Because I found a bunch of voicemails from him on my phone. Did you know that it stores deleted voicemails, in case you want to recover them? Because I didn’t, not until today.” He hoped his grandfather could hear the accusation in his words.

“William-” his grandfather began.

“Why?” William demanded, cutting him off.

“Because your father brings danger with him wherever he goes,” his grandfather replied, voice taut. “He’s not fit to be your parent.”

“He just wants to  _ talk _ to me!” William shouted. “Why is that so terrible?”

“Because it starts with just  _ talk _ ,” his grandfather said angrily, “and then before long he’ll be trying to insert himself back into your life.” 

“Him and that wife of his,” his grandmother put in, “who’s not any more fit to be your parent than he is.”

“Don’t drag Felicity into this,” William said, rounding on her. “She took care of me and kept me safe when my dad was in prison, not that either of  _ you _ care.”

“I don’t care for your tone, young man,” his grandfather said.

“Right now, I really don’t care if you like it or not,” William snapped in reply. “You can punish me for acting out if you want, but you have no right to decide that my dad isn’t allowed to talk to me because of something you think he  _ might _ do.” With that, he turned and stormed out of the room. He knew that later he would be made to regret his outburst, but right now he was too angry to care. Deciding that the time was right for one more act of rebellion, once he reached his room, he made sure his door was closed behind him and immediately called his dad. The call went straight to voicemail, which didn’t entirely surprise him. At this time of night, he was probably working.

“Hey Dad,” he said the moment he heard the tone that told him it was time to record his message. “It’s a long story, but I just got your messages. I really want to talk to you, so please call me back as soon as you get this.” After that, he hung up and put his phone away, knowing that he had done all he could do for now.


End file.
